A set of updated permits has been issued for a three-story, three-unit residential building proposed at 5617 Sansom Street in Cobbs Creek, West Philadelphia. Philly YIMBY reported the original permit filing in December 2020. The latest permits offer new details on the project, including a planned building footprint of 1,136 square feet, a total floor area of 2,561 square feet, and a construction cost of $107,175. The structure will be fully sprinkled. Stephen Sanders is the listed owner, with Scott Woodruff specified as the architect and AIMES LLC as the contractor.
5617 Sansom Street. Credit: Google Street View
The site is located on the north side of the block between South 56th Street and South 57th Street. The building will be situated within a row of matching prewar rowhouses with deep front yards, tan brick facades, projecting second-story windows beneath shingle-clad overhangs, and low parapets with alternating flat and pointed profiles and lozenge decoration. Fortunately, none will be demolished for the project, which will be situated at a vacant lot. Though the new building will rise higher than its neighbors, its scale will be contextually consistent with nearby three-story rowhouses on South 56th Street.
5617 Sansom Street. Looking north. Credit: Google Street View
Sansom Street, with 5617 Sansom Street on the left. Looking northeast. Credit: Google Street View
Sansom Street, with 5617 Sansom Street on the right. Looking west. Credit: Google Street View
Although the area does not see much new construction, the proposal signals that West Philadelphia’s ongoing development boom, centered on University City, is spreading even into far-flung neighborhoods such as Cobbs Creek. The surrounding blocks hold potential for further development, where a number of suburban-style retailers surrounded by parking lots represent poor usage of transit-accessible urban space situated around the 56th Street station on the Market-Frankford Line. Development of these sites would allow for an influx of new residents and businesses without destroying the neighborhood’s traditional rowhouse fabric and potential displacement of the existing community.
5617 Sansom Street. Looking north. Credit: Google Street View
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Will this three- unit or three-story unit have a basement?
Satellite images show a rear driveway, but no parking garage.
This area is served by SEPTA bus route G (56th Street) , SEPTA bus route 21 (Chestnut Street & Walnut Street (only one city block away in North/South directions) with departures every 5-15 minutes) and is only two city blocks from the 56th street station of the Market-Frankford Line.
There’s a few pizzerias further south and a Wendy’s further north (easily walkable). A corner Deli can be found at 53rd and Chestnut Streets.
An interesting neighborhood for sure.
Very nice! 😉